Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins Prediction, NHL Odds
The Bruins are looking to bounce back in their home opener after an embarrassing 6-4 loss in Florida on Tuesday night. On the other hand, Montreal will be looking for an offensive spark after scoring just a single goal in their opener.
The NHL odds have Boston as the heavy favourite at -250 to win with the total set at 6. Puck drop from TD Garden is set for 7:00 PM ET.
Canadiens vs. Bruins NHL Betting Odds
The Bruins owned the season series versus Montreal last year beating them in three of their four meetings. The Canadiens’ only victory came in overtime and was the series opener. They split the OVER/UNDER 2-2, with both OVERs coming in absolute beatdowns by the Bruins 5-2 and 9-4.
The Bruins are the second favourite to be highest scoring team on Thursday paying +600 on the NHL Daily Props. The game itself is paying out +750 to be the highest-scoring game of the night on a packed nine-game schedule. Considering the Bruins will be looking for a bounce back and the Canadiens will also be looking for a spark offensively, this could be a good line.
Our NHL Futures board gives the Bruins the fourth-best odds to win the Atlantic Division, the team has improved on paper and is only a season removed from setting the NHL record for points.
Montreal Canadiens
After an impressive win on home ice against the Leafs, the Habs will surely have their hands full versus another longtime rival on Thursday in Boston. Samuel Montembeault had a strong showing, stopping all 48 shots for his second career shutout. He became the first Canadiens goalie to post a shutout in the home opener since Hall of Famer Ken Dryden.
Many Canadiens fans pointed at their horrible powerplay last season, but they scored their lone goal on the powerplay, ending the night one for five with the man advantage. Cole Caufield ripped a one-timer to get the Canadiens on the board, scoring his first goal as number 13 after changing over the summer.
With the starting job still up for grabs, the Canadiens will likely turn to Cayden Primeau in net for the game on Thursday. He and Montembeault had similar numbers last season, but Primeau played eight fewer games.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins opted to go with the newly acquired netminder Joonas Korpisalo in their season opener. Their very public contract dispute with Jeremy Swayman kept the goalie out of their entire preseason and training camp. He will likely make his season debut versus the rivalled Canadiens in front of the hometown crowd.
Korpisalo did not look good in his first game with the B’s, giving up half a dozen goals to the reigning Cup champs. After falling behind 2-0, Pavel Zacha got the Bruins on the board with a shorthanded marker, which looked to get momentum swinging back in their favour. The Panthers scored two more in the final minutes of the first to completely take the life out of the Bruins. Charlie McAvoy would score in the second to make it 5-2, while Trent Frederic and David Pastrnak scored in the final minutes to bring it to a more respectable 6-4 final.
